Lately everyone is talking about it! Sorry, I mean HIIT! HIIT (as you know, because it’s all the rage) is abbreviated from High Intensity Interval Training. It is a training system which maximises your workout time and training efforts by systematic manipulation of exercises, work/ rest timers and training volume. The main reason this style of training is more effective for weight loss than conventional strength training, and Low Intensity Steady State (LISS) is down to three reasons.
1. The Intensity is higher
2. The recovery times are shorter
3. The volume is greater
In short, because of the 3 reasons above in a 45 minute session (I’m not even sorry for using BP45 as an example here) a typical set up would be 7 exercises, 6 rounds, 45 seconds work and 15 seconds rest which gives 42 minutes of training where your heart rate is constantly spiking high for long periods of time and achieving maximal calorie burn, and given little time to recover between rounds. In a more conventional workout such as lifting weights or LISS, it works the opposite way around and your heart rate spends the bulk of the session in the lower HR zones where minimal calories are burned. A LISS session would be a 30 minute power walk (or something similar) where the HR stays lower than in a HIIT session but higher than your resting state, which means you’ll burn more doing LISS than watching the box, but less than HIIT jumping on the box (Box height dependant on participant ability).
We are not saying LISS and Lift aren’t important because they all play a part. Lifting weights will build your body into that shape you’re chasing, HIIT will burn the fat so you can show it off, and LISS will help you recover so you can do it all again! Our Body planners group training system uses all these methods to optimise your workouts – HIIT, Lift (both strength and endurance) married with our nutrition advice and tracking means we deliver results you can measure, time and time again.
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